Well I'm still in the air about the video card. Still can't decide between a 7970 or the gtx680.

I've been looking at a couple of asrock mobo's and some asus ones. I'm clearly going intel now lol. Ill probably end up doing the same water cooler as you (corsair h80?) and 12gb of ram.

Hard drive is my Samsung pro 840 128gb ssd and a 1tb secondary drive. Not sure how much more $#@! will be throw in it besides the basics as of now

Either video card will wreck games like BF3 @ 1080p, but if u decide to run multiple monitors, it may change your choice.

I suggest Asus mobos, as ive had great luck with them. As far as water-cooling, the H80 is a great option. NZXT is coming out with another all-in-one solution as well. And then theres the custom loops, which are the best. And 12 GB RAM is planty for a gaming rig.

Either video card will wreck games like BF3 @ 1080p, but if u decide to run multiple monitors, it may change your choice.

I suggest Asus mobos, as ive had great luck with them. As far as water-cooling, the H80 is a great option. NZXT is coming out with another all-in-one solution as well. And then theres the custom loops, which are the best. And 12 GB RAM is planty for a gaming rig.